In The Dead Of The Night
by Rosesdancinginmymind
Summary: Cora has a nightmare (about the fight where Zelena throws Regina into the clocktower) and it leads to MillsFamilyFluff :)


_This is just a oneshot that popped into my brain. AU wherein Cora lives and has her heart and Zelena lives. _

_Summary: Cora has a nightmare (about the fight where Zelena throws Regina into the clocktower) and it leads to MillsFamilyFluff :)_

_I don't own Once or its characters. Apologies for any mistakes. Hope you enjoy :) _

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><p><em>It's like a bad memory, a flash from her past as she watches her daughter be held up in the air and choked by Zelena. <em>

_She never meant for this to happen, any of this. When her heart returned she felt so much guilt and for so many things – she's not sure she'll ever make up for the pain she's inflicted but god she's trying. She loves Regina. She does and seeing this battle between her daughters reminds her that her actions always have consequences. _

_She kept Regina and lost her heart and inflicted fear, pain and misery upon her child. She held her up in the air just like Zelena is doing now and she can see just from the look in Regina's eyes that she remembers too. _

_The pain slices through her heart with a dull thud and Cora wishes she could stop this. _

_She can't. _

_She gave Zelena away thinking it was for the best, it wasn't. She sees now how selfish she was to both her daughters. She gave Zelena up for her own best chance, not her daughter's. She used Regina to climb to power she could never achieve herself. _

_Her actions have consequences. _

_Regina is forgiving her gradually and they are in one another's life but Cora still sees the traces of fear and anger. _

_Zelena grew up isolated and avoided. Her jealousy choked her with malice and grew until envy was all she had. Now that resentment and bitterness has given way to vengeance and violence. That anger isn't directed at Cora though but Regina. It hurts a hell of a lot more. _

_She has dreams of Zelena and Regina being sisters who love and care for each other. She dreams of family._

_She lives a nightmare. _

_Her eyes remain fixed on Regina's face. Magic chokes her and she sees her daughter struggling for breath whilst she is powerless to help. Her daughter's hands struggle futilely for a few moments before she stills the same way she always used to under Cora's own magic. It's an act of submission and normally Cora would let her down glad to see the lesson had taken hold. _

_Zelena is not Cora. _

_Her envy courses through her veins and her anger at her mother rages to the point where she would happily take the child she kept away. _

_Cora wishes she had magic and could stop this but she no longer does. She didn't want the temptation or the thing that had caused her family so much pain. She forgot about its powers of healing and protection. _

_Now all she can do is watch helplessly as fear and pain glosses over Regina's eyes with the weight of too many memories. _

_Zelena grins maniacally once more before lifting Regina higher and tossing her through the clock-tower. Cora's heart stops with the sound of broken glass and fear cripples her as she stares at her eldest daughter and prays that her worst nightmare has not come true. _

Cora wakes with a start and takes a few ragged breaths as her nightmare lingers in her mind. Things have changed a lot since that day. They stopped her daughter's plans to go back in time and slowly but surely she, Regina and Zelena have become a family. It's been hard but worth it.

Cora loves her daughters and she wouldn't trade a thing in the world for them.

Even though she knows they're both safe and well and that neither of them would harm each other now it doesn't stop the nightmares. She wishes they'd fade away but she knows it will take time as all things do for them. She sighs as she tries to calm herself. She fails.

She gets up quickly slipping on a robe before padding out of her bedroom in the mansion. The hallway sees a lot of action in the dead of the night. Between them there are so many, too many nightmares and it often leads to one or more wandering these halls to check that everyone is still safe.

Cora walks down the hallway to Zelena's room before poking her head round. Her eldest daughter sleeps peacefully and Cora sighs in relief. She smiles as she rests her head against the doorframe. When that particular nightmare hits Cora needs this. She needs the reassurance that Zelena is here with them rather than fighting against them.

She watches only for a few moments as Zelena tosses and turns before settling into sleep. Cora never watches for long, just enough to remind herself that Zelena is here and that the progress they've all been making is still happening. It's enough to remind her that her family are not at war but simply are a family.

It's all she wants now and it's why the memory terrifies her so. Her worst nightmare now is losing her family especially at the hands of each other.

Cora shuts the door quietly before walking back down the hallway towards Regina's room. She opens it just a crack and smiles seeing that she too is sleeping calmly. She relaxes against the door at the knowledge that at this moment everything is okay. Her daughters are safe and that's what matters most to her.

She takes one last glance at Regina before moving away from the door.

"Mom?"

The word seeps into the dark and Cora turns to see Regina sitting up and staring at her with bleary and confused eyes. She smiles at her daughter, "Sorry I woke you."

Regina rubs her eyes with her pyjama sleeve before looking at her mother seriously, "You had the dream again?"

Cora sighs before nodding, "I did."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Regina asks.

Cora shakes her head, "That's okay. I'm your mother remember? I'm supposed to take care of you not the other way round."

Regina rolls her eyes, "I'm in my thirties Mom and whilst it's true that you look out for me we're family which means I can look out for you too."

Cora smiles stepping into the room, "I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

Regina nods, "I know and now I want to make sure you are."

Cora nods looking to her daughter, "I'm okay. I am truly."

Regina cocks her head to the side giving her a knowing look, "Mom," she says before moving her arms up in a hug gesture. Cora smiles before walking across the room and hugging her daughter tightly. Her smile grows brighter and more relaxed as she hugs Regina and feels the dread and terror she experienced in the nightmare fade away.

"I love you," Cora says.

"Love you too," Regina replies with a small yawn.

"Love you three," a voice adds and they turn to see Zelena standing there. She shrugs before adding, "I heard you get up." She walks across the room before joining the hug and Cora grins knowing this is all she needed. The hug reminds her of how far they've come since the moment in her nightmare and she knows that no matter what terrors the dead of the night may bring, her family is here and always will be.

_Thanks for reading :) _


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